Small Town Scandal
by Skye
Summary: Keiichi discovers yet oddity another having to do with his Hinamizawa friends. Rika/Satoko


**Small Town Scandal**

"Why did I have to come get you, anyway?" Satoko said, arms folded as she walked straight ahead. "What a pathetic person Keiichi-san is, to have to have a frail young maiden around as a protector," Satoko said.

"Protector?! Hey, don't twist thing around like that!" Keiichi protested.

"Oh? And you see your role as not depending on me?"

"There's no roles here, we're just walking together. Man, just because I don't know the way there... It's not like I liked here all my life like everyone else."

"So you require my help?" Satoko said, peering at Keiichi slyly.

"No way, I don't even have to come, you know."

"Oh? Then don't. It isn't like we won't have plenty of fun without you. You'll also miss out on the hand-made treats," Satoko said with a grin.

"Damn it! Mion and Rena wouldn't have-" Keiichi stopped and rethought his argument. "Rika's a good girl! She wouldn't have given me a hard time, she'd do a way better job than you."

"That goes without saying," a woman casually commented.

Keiichi was surprised. He looked around, first at the woman who continued on her way without another glance, then over at Satoko.

Satoko's expression changed before he could even, and she looked away, appearing cross. "Do whatever you want, Keiichi!" she said before running off.

"W-Wait! You just wait a minute, there!" Keiichi shouted, and quickly ran after her. He ran quickly after her, though she only seemed to get farther and farther away. He finally caught up to her. When they were more into town. "Damn it, Satoko, I told you to wait!"

"That's no way to speak to a lady," Satoko said softly, but only turned to look at Keiichi for a moment before turning back to the sight that interested her.

Keiichi also looked in that direction. There was Rika, surrounded by townspeople, seeming to be having a conversation with all of them as they smiled and patted her on the head. "Rika... She's kind of famous here, huh?

"I guess so," Satoko muttered.

"Well, what are you waiting for? We came this way to help her carry back some groceries, right?"

"I- Yes- I just-" Satoko stammered, then frowned. "Keiichi, I only just noticed that Rika had forgotten the bread. I was waiting for you to come back and buy it for us."

"Me? Why me?" Keiichi asked.

"Well, to thank me of course," Satoko said.

"Thank you for what? The game of tag?" Keiichi said.

"Call it what you like, just hurry up and go buy the bread! We're right in front of the bakery, so you don't need help getting _there_," Satoko touched the doorknob, opening it slightly, and then ran off to Rika.

As Keiichi pulled open the door, he looked their way. The smiles of the people around Rika all left in a wave as Satoko approached. So it really hadn't been an exaggeration, Keiichi though. Mion had told him that there was a lot of anger towards Satoko's family for being on the wrong side of some town politics. Keiichi didn't really think it would lead to this kind of snubbing toward a kid like her who probably didn't care much about whatever the issue was, anyway.

"Poor Satoko," Keiichi commented, looking towards her and not the entrance as he walked in the door. He promptly tripped over something into a dusty pile of junk. "Satoko!" he shouted. This wasn't a bakery, just some kind of storage shed. Keiichi quickly tore out of there to find her.

Approaching from a distance, Keiichi could see that Rika's smile was even wider than before. And even Satoko, before sullen, also smiled as she whispered in Rika's ear, inciting a giggle. Satoko seemed to move closer to her, grabbing onto her arm.

As Keiichi came close, he stood aside and watched still, Satoko pushed Rika's hair behind her ear and moved even closer, and he smirked. This wasn't the first time he'd noticed these little moments of affection, there might be something else going on. The town celebrity and a girl from a hated family? Rika and Satoko were going to make the perfect small town scandal, if they weren't one already.

From the corner of her eye, Satoko noticed Keiichi. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "Keiichi was watching us, what a pervert!"

"Pervert?" Keiichi repeated in disbelief. "And why is that? Were you planning on doing something that a pervert would like to watch?"

"W-What?" Satoko stammered, blushing. "I was going to do no such thing!"

Keiichi grinned. He wasn't going to let that go after the tricks Satoko had played on him. "I knew it! Just look at your face! You were at least thinking about it."

"I-I would never-"

"But you are, you are!" Keiichi teased. It wasn't often that Satoko got flustered like this, but it was kind of fun.

"Well!" Rika interrupted. "Not that we're here, let's get on our way, okay?"

"Right, let's go. You can carry all of this, Keiichi," Satoko said.

"Thank you very much," Rika said.

Satoko and Rika went ahead, but Keiichi stayed back staring at the pile. "Hey, wait! I thought I came here to _help_." The girls were already far ahead, unable to hear his words through their own. Oh well, Keiichi thought, sighing as he picked everything up. He'd do it for love... And of course, the chance to have even more to tease Satoko about later. The two still seemed an awful lot like a couple as they walked ahead of him.


End file.
